The mainstream entertainment world doesn’t get a lot of animated dark fantasy. So, besides outliers like Fire & Ice, Heavy Metal, and, to a degree, Netflix’s Castlevania, if you wanted to dive deep into mystical and alluring universes in the world of adult animation, your choices are finite. Now enter a curious entry called The Spine of Night. It clicks most of the boxes those titles occupy, and then some. Sorcery? Check. Wildly imaginative? Check. Violence, nudity and dazzling visuals? Check, check and check! The Spine of Night is an epic fantasy tale about the history of a land that never was. The story begins when an ambitious young man…
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Sweet Trailer…’Night Raiders’
From executive producer Taika Waititi comes a powerful film about the human spirit. Night Raiders takes place in 2043, in a dystopian future, where a military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are considered property of the regime which trains them to fight. A desperate Cree woman joins an underground band of vigilantes to infiltrate a State children’s academy and get her daughter back. A parable about the situation of the First Nations, Night Raiders is a female-driven sci-fi drama about resilience, courage and love. This critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller is written and directed by Saskatchewan-born Cree/Métis filmmaker Danis Goulet who makes her debut with this riveting festival favorite. Check out the…
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Interview…Composer/Orchestrator Tim Davies on ‘Maya and the Three’
Tim Davies leads a very busy musical life, and the Grammy- and Annie-nominated musician splits his time between orchestrating for features, television, and video games; composing his own scores; and conducting and arranging for orchestras all around the globe. Whether it is as composer/orchestrator/conductor or a combination of all three, he’s been a part of Frozen and Frozen 2, both Ant-Man movies, The Lego Movie 2, La La Land, Trolls, Minions, The Peanuts Movie, The Croods: A New Age, Empire and WandaVision. He is currently lead orchestrator for Christophe Beck, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Fil Eisler. When not on the scoring stage, Davies can be found at the podium conducting orchestras…
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Interview…Brittany Allen On Acting, Composing and Finding Her Voice
Brittany Allen, aka BRITT, is a multi-disciplinary artist, who on the heels of a successful career as an actor, is now emerging as one of the most exciting young female composers to watch. Her first score was for the critically acclaimed indie What Keeps You Alive (SXSW ’18) which was named a NYTimes Critic’s Pick, one of Rolling Stone’s Top Ten Horror Films of 2018, and hit the Top Ten films on Netflix. She followed that up with her “soul-tugging score” for Z, one of AMC / Shudder’s most watched films of 2020. Most recently, Allen scored the fan favorite episode of “American Horror Stories,” the anthology spinoff of the…
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Exclusive: Phil Mossman’s Debut Track from the ‘Funny Face’ Soundtrack
Film composer and recording artist Phil Mossman is perhaps best known for his work as a member of the iconic electronica band LCD Soundsystem. Most recently, he has distinguished himself as a the composer of a number of independent film projects, including many works by the director Tim Sutton, the most recent of which is the western The Last Son, starring Thomas Jane and Heather Graham, which was released this month through Redbox. We’ve been impressed with Mossman’s sound from his work with Will Bates (as part of Fall On Your Sword), and highly recommend the 2007 LCD Soundsystem album ‘Sound of Silver‘ (make sure you check out ‘North American Scum‘). As such, we’re thrilled…
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Podcast Review: ‘The Suicide Squad’
Over the years, we’ve covered a lot of ground on the site. But one thing we’ve always aimed to do was a podcast. Well, after a lot of waiting we’re finally getting to it. As such, I am happy to have have our newest contributor, Federico Furzan, as my co-host (or RIO for all you naval aviators). I’m thinking of calling it ‘Two Os in Goose‘ because of my fondness for Top Gun, but Federico isn’t on board…yet. For our inaugural episode, we covered a slew of topics, and we had a blast jumping all over the map. So much so that we lost track of time. That said, if…
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Interview…Marco Beltrami and Miles Hankins Collaborate on ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’
In the world of film scores, there are many composer/director relationships that get a lot of notoriety. But in the last twenty years, co-composing has become more accepted and just as celebrated. Many times – due to the nature of the business and the timelines on certain projects – it is simply a necessity. Whether it’s temporary help, or invaluable creative input throughout the assignment depends on the project, but having that extra bit of assistance can bring a new voice, err sounds and ideas to the palette. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard on the first two Nolan Batman films, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on The Social Network,…
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Interview…Brian Tyler on ‘The Fast Saga’, Personal Projects and Connecting with the Audience
When it comes to contemporary composers, Brian Tyler is one of our favorite musicians. He is supremely accomplished – skilled in playing piano, guitar, drums, bass, cello, world percussion, guitarviol, charango and bouzouki – and able to walk through multiple genres, even in the same film. It’s been a long time since we interviewed Brian about his work, but he’s done a lot since 2016. Over the years, we’ve had lively and insightful conversations about some of his standout scores: Rambo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Iron Man 3, Now You See Me, The Expendables 3, and Criminal. For years, Brian has been interested in listening to and deconstructing a wide…
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Sweet Trailer…’Under the Volcano’
The upcoming documentary, Under the Volcano, is tells the untold story about the studio that changed the world from an isolated island paradise, will be on available on digital release in the U.S. Directed by Gracie Otto (The Last Impresario) and produced by Cody Greenwood, this doc charts the rise and fall of AIR Studios Montserrat, the recording studio at the center of the pop universe in the 1980s. Built by Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin in 1979, AIR Studios Montserrat was a custom-built, state-of-the-art recording facility tucked away on a Caribbean paradise. In the shadow of an active volcano, the studio not only attracted the biggest musical talent on the…
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Interview…Junkie XL on the Mondo Box Set of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’
It’s been a while since we chatted with Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL), and boy how his career has soared. It wasn’t enough to follow George Miller to the ends of the ear and destroy the sonic landscape with such raw and powerful drums. As an artist, he had to push farther, and we’re so glad he did. His signature blend of rhythms – a style that comes from deep down in his DNA – can be heard in all his scores no matter how far apart they seem on the surface. Are we saying that Mad Max: Fury Road, Mortal Engines and Sonic the Hedgehog are the same? Yes.…
